The present invention relates to an emergency response system to provide secure communication between an emergency response team and a subject. More specifically, the present invention relates to a wireless emergency response system that allows a command module to wirelessly communicate to one of a plurality of remote modules.
Law enforcement agencies and emergency response teams are frequently confronted with situations in which a suspect has barricaded himself in a particular location and it is impractical for the response team to enter that location without risking the safety of hostages, the safety of the suspect or those in the immediate vicinity. In this type of situation, it is oftentimes necessary for the response team to communicate with the suspect in order to determine the suspect's demands and requests.
In the past, many types of negotiation units have been used in connection with existing telephone wires to speak with the suspect. When utilizing the prior art systems, the law enforcement agency typically taps into the existing phone wires and the suspect uses the telephone located in the building in which the suspect is located. However, this type of prior hostage negotiation unit has several drawbacks, in that the communication with the suspect may not be secure or there may not be an existing telephone in the building in which hostages are being held.
To address several of these problems, direct connected emergency response systems including two telephone handsets hard wired together are used. In this type of system, one of the handsets is thrown into the building, while the second handset is retained by the law enforcement agency or emergency response team. Through this hard wire connection, the law enforcement agency can contact and communicate with the suspect holding the hostages. An example of this type of system is shown in the applicant's prior U.S. Pat. No. 6,442,240, the subject matter of which is incorporated herein by reference.
While this type of system has worked reasonably well, it is desired to enhance the emergency response system to provide the law enforcement agency or response team with a wireless system to increase the flexibility of the system and eliminate the restrictions of a hardwired connection.
It is therefore a feature of the present invention to provide an emergency response system having a command module used by the emergency response team that is in wireless communication with one or more remote modules to be provided to or near the suspect.